Netherlands 2-0 Romania

Romania took an ultra-extra cagey approach to this vital match trying to ensure that they didn’t offer Netherlands a chance to counter attack. By the end of the ninety minutes they had won the battle but had categorically lost the war.

The safety first approach worked in the first half as the Netherlands were forced to build their attacks rather than benefitting from the super quick passing that had caused Italy and France so much trouble.

However, Netherlands did have chances with the best falling to Robben but he shot wide with only Lobont to beat. Boulahrouz of all players was enjoying far too much space when attacking down the Dutch right and more might have come from a couple of his raids.

Romania’s passing was inconsistent with far too many sloppy passes or players being caught in possession. Early in the second half any thoughts Romania may have harboured about holding back and then pushing for a late winner were crushed when their sloppy play infected the back four.

The Romanian defence allowed Afellay to chase down an errant Robben cross completely unmolested. The Dutch midfielder played the ball back into the box and again the defence failed to deal with it. This time the ball found Huntelaar and Romania was in trouble.

Needing to up the tempo Romania was unable to change gears as their passing deteriorated under the pressure of now having to chase the game. Maruis Niculae who started in place of his namesake Daniel was a willing front runner but sorely lacking the skills to bother the Dutch defence.

Mutu was a sporadic presence as the two received virtually no support from the midfield. The replacement of Maruis by Daniel made no difference as the Dutch continued to deal with any Romanian threat with a minimum amount of trouble.

Another goal from the Dutch, this one from Robin van Persie, only served to highlight the gulf between these two teams on the day.

Romania go home and leave thinking of what might have been if only Buffon had been a split second slower or even a fraction of a second quicker. But even then the game against the Netherlands offered up a second chance to Romania and they bottled it.

France 0-2 Italy
The share of the play might have been even but Italy should have had France dead and buried before half time. French supporters can look to the penalty kick awarded against Eric Abidal and the red card he received as the turning point in this game but there ominous signs before that moment  for France.

The injury to Franck Ribery early in the game was another blow to France but even a fully fit Ribery for ninety minutes would not have mitigated the problems caused by a porous central defence and a ponderous in midfield.

The lead up to the penalty decision was a microcosm of France’s early problems. A free kick in the centre circle was played to Pirlo. With no pressure on him Pirlo had time to look up and clip a 35-yard pass over the head of Abidal and onto the toe of Toni. Abidal attempted a tackle was never going to finish up as anything but a dead-cert penalty kick.  

Toni was giving the French defence fits before Abidal’s sending off and he continued after the dismissal. Grosso also hit the post from a free kick and Perrotta came close to breaking through. 
French coach Raymond Domenech’s decision to withdraw substitute Nasri (he had replaced Ribery) shortly after Abidal’s red card will be a source of heated discussion amongst French fans. A more fateful decision was perhaps taken before kick off in opting to deputize full back Abidal as a centre back.

You can certainly argue about the merits of centre backs Jean-Alain Boumsong and Sébastien Squillaci.  But asking a regular full back to play centre half when Domenech had two specialist centre-backs available begs the question why did he bother picking Boumsong and Squillaci to start with?

Daniele De Rossi’s deflected free kick was the clincher and put the game well beyond 10-man France. De Rossi was excellent throughout and his performance was a reminder of Donadoni’s mistake in not playing the Roma midfielder against Netherlands in the first game.

Comment of the Day

"That is the happiest I have ever been after a match in which I didn't score," Ruud van Nistelrooy after Holland beat France 4-1.

Prediction Update

LHJS, Sounderfan, knvoetbal all recorded 100% scores is predicting the outcome of Group B. Sounderfan is the only poster with a 100% record at the conclusion of the first two groups. He leads everyone by at least two points.